The inclusion of tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) for light passenger vehicles was enacted into law in the United States in 2007 and Europe in 2012. Millions of US and European passenger vehicles now include these sensors which require service and replacement over time. TPMS systems are important vehicular safety systems and use has expanded beyond passenger vehicles from over the road trucks to motorcycles.
A common form of TPMS sensor includes a sensor that is connected to the tire valve stem and is mounted to the inside of a vehicle wheel or rim exposed to the pressurized air interior of the vehicle tire. Common forms of these sensors include a clamp-type mounting and a snap-on mounting.
In servicing these TPMS sensors, service garages often had to use several distinct and different tools to disassemble, remove and replace worn or damaged TPMS sensors. Prior tools or tool kits included a torque wrench, a valve stem wrench, grommet wrench, a screw driver and specialty driver sockets and bits in order to remove or replace the sensors. If one or more of these tools was temporarily misplaced or lost, a technician would have to find or purchase a replacement which is costly and increases the time to conduct the TPMS repair or replacement.
With TPMS mandated for passenger vehicles, many companies have entered the commercial market with competitive TPMS sensors. These competitive sensor manufacturers design and manufacture TPMS sensors to their own specifications depending on the features and performance specifications required by the vehicle original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customer. For example, a TPMS sensor manufacturer may sell several lines of TPMS sensors which have different constructions, installation instructions, programming protocols, communication protocols and functional features.
The number of different TPMS sensor manufacturers and available sensors generates dozens and dozens of different TPMS sensors for service garage technicians. When a TPMS-equipped vehicle enters a service garage, a lot of time is traditionally spent by technicians to determine what type of TPMS sensor was originally installed on the vehicle or specified by the OEM. Once the proper TPMS sensor is identified, technicians traditionally would then have to research or look-up the proper installation instructions and specifications, for example the recommended installation torque, to install the replacement TPMS or reinstall the existing TPMS sensor. In some instances and/or in the interest of saving time, technicians may simply apply an installation torque based on the technician's experience due to the burden and effort to research, for example, installation torque specifications for a particular brand and model of TPMS sensor. This can result in damage to the TPMS sensor or a less than optimal installation of the sensor.
There is a need to provide a multi-functional TPMS sensor tool which integrally includes most, if not all, of the tools typically needed to remove and replace common TPMS sensors and associated valves which will increase the speed and efficiency of technicians working on these TPMS devices. This is further a need for a TPMS tool that includes a database of TPMS sensor makes, models, year reference torque specifications and other information that a technician can quickly access and display on a screen for rapid identification of sensor information and then proper installation using the same tool.